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Neon Yellow
The Zephyr Bones’ psychedelic rock expands in a precise and determined sophomore album. A warm and accessible record that speaks about love, self-affirmation, loss and hope.

A quicksilver track that glides on a buoyant bassline and glistening melodic interplay, “No One” is the sound of joy. While it’s easy to pigeonhole it as a dreampop track, there’s undoubtedly hints of psych, funk and Kraut all nestled in there, The Zephyr Bones blurring the lines with ease in this intoxicating track that shows growth in their sonic heft without losing their feathery lightness.
Beats per Minute
"No One" opens up like a traditional indie dance track, with sparkling guitars and a vibrant synth lead reminiscent of a cut from The Strokes or Tame Impala. But it progresses in a fascinating way, bringing in a crunchy psychedelic guitar solo and a funky instrumental breakdown at the end. This track has a variety of sounds, but it's prog rock more than anything, as the dynamic instrumentation sticks out the most. Every layer here is not only an excellent piece to the larger puzzle while also being technically impressive on its own. Despite these nods to the more experienced rock nerd, what's the most fascinating is how accessible the tune really is. The wild drum beats, dense synth layers, and lightning-quick guitars demonstrate the true cerebral chemistry of the group. The sheer musical talent doesn't hurt either.
Earmilk
When The Zephyr Bones first burst into the scene they crushed everything that got in their way. Their music slapped us like a wave when it reaches shore. It took us by surprise and left us asking yearning for more. They coined their style “beach wave”. All this became a first album titled Secret Place, something like the sonic coordinates of a sunny place with a soundtrack of guitars with reverb and intoxicating melodies. You can’t tell whether you’ve been there or not, but you definitely want to go back.
In Neon Body they are the same people, but it hits differently. Their melodies and suggestive guitar riffs are on point. They are able to take you back to places. You will never finish these 10 tracks in the same place where you were when you first hit play. Speaking of The Zephyr Bones is speaking of pure freedom. And yet, in this second album we get to know them in a different way, more determined and with a renewed intensity. The landscape has also changed and now the tone reminds us of the twilight, and in some songs you can even feel the reflection of neon light on your skin.
But let’s not lose the point. What matters here are the songs, and in this album you can find pretty damn good ones. “No One”, the first single, is an excellent entry into the universe created in Neon Body. Addictive and irresistible, it will instantly get you dancing and singing along. “So High” is a dizzying and fast-paced first track. By the time “Verneda Lights” arrives, you have fully surrendered to Brian Silva (vocals, guitar and synthesizers), Jossip Tkalcic (guitar and vocals), Marc López (drums) and Carlos Ramos (bass). “Sparks” shines with its own light: it is a controlled fire until the final part of the song makes everything burn again. “Plastic Freedom” goes all-in with an infallible riff. “Velvet” is as elegant as its title suggests, and “Rocksteady” hits the bullseye again with a chorus that hits like a poisonous dart. “Neon Eyes’’ lifts you up with heavenly back up vocals and “Afterglow” keeps you with your feet on the ground – Why? Because begs you to dance. And then comes “Celeste V”, a song that speaks about loss that puts an end to the recording.

Tape

The Zephyr Bones’ psychedelic rock expands in a precise and determined sophomore album. A warm and accessible record that speaks about love, self-affirmation, loss and hope.

A quicksilver track that glides on a buoyant bassline and glistening melodic interplay, “No One” is the sound of joy. While it’s easy to pigeonhole it as a dreampop track, there’s undoubtedly hints of psych, funk and Kraut all nestled in there, The Zephyr Bones blurring the lines with ease in this intoxicating track that shows growth in their sonic heft without losing their feathery lightness.
Beats per Minute
"No One" opens up like a traditional indie dance track, with sparkling guitars and a vibrant synth lead reminiscent of a cut from The Strokes or Tame Impala. But it progresses in a fascinating way, bringing in a crunchy psychedelic guitar solo and a funky instrumental breakdown at the end. This track has a variety of sounds, but it's prog rock more than anything, as the dynamic instrumentation sticks out the most. Every layer here is not only an excellent piece to the larger puzzle while also being technically impressive on its own. Despite these nods to the more experienced rock nerd, what's the most fascinating is how accessible the tune really is. The wild drum beats, dense synth layers, and lightning-quick guitars demonstrate the true cerebral chemistry of the group. The sheer musical talent doesn't hurt either.
Earmilk
When The Zephyr Bones first burst into the scene they crushed everything that got in their way. Their music slapped us like a wave when it reaches shore. It took us by surprise and left us asking yearning for more. They coined their style “beach wave”. All this became a first album titled Secret Place, something like the sonic coordinates of a sunny place with a soundtrack of guitars with reverb and intoxicating melodies. You can’t tell whether you’ve been there or not, but you definitely want to go back.
In Neon Body they are the same people, but it hits differently. Their melodies and suggestive guitar riffs are on point. They are able to take you back to places. You will never finish these 10 tracks in the same place where you were when you first hit play. Speaking of The Zephyr Bones is speaking of pure freedom. And yet, in this second album we get to know them in a different way, more determined and with a renewed intensity. The landscape has also changed and now the tone reminds us of the twilight, and in some songs you can even feel the reflection of neon light on your skin.
But let’s not lose the point. What matters here are the songs, and in this album you can find pretty damn good ones. “No One”, the first single, is an excellent entry into the universe created in Neon Body. Addictive and irresistible, it will instantly get you dancing and singing along. “So High” is a dizzying and fast-paced first track. By the time “Verneda Lights” arrives, you have fully surrendered to Brian Silva (vocals, guitar and synthesizers), Jossip Tkalcic (guitar and vocals), Marc López (drums) and Carlos Ramos (bass). “Sparks” shines with its own light: it is a controlled fire until the final part of the song makes everything burn again. “Plastic Freedom” goes all-in with an infallible riff. “Velvet” is as elegant as its title suggests, and “Rocksteady” hits the bullseye again with a chorus that hits like a poisonous dart. “Neon Eyes’’ lifts you up with heavenly back up vocals and “Afterglow” keeps you with your feet on the ground – Why? Because begs you to dance. And then comes “Celeste V”, a song that speaks about loss that puts an end to the recording.

In an age of never-ending genre caveats, there’s something refreshing in a band simply referring to themselves as a rock band, plain and simple. Lonely Pirate Committee define themselves in such a way, and while their music encompasses a number of different strands and influences, they like the openness of that descriptor, the space it leaves for exploration and experimentation.

Moving through various iterations over the years, Lonely Pirate Committee remains in 2021 as the musical project of childhood friends Pearce Gronek and Fletcher Barton. Together, the pair has guided the band’s studio work, before bringing varying members to flesh out LPC’s high-volume and high-intensity live performances that juxtapose the more mellow and laid-back sound that mostly defines their recordings to date, save for the band’s occasional moments of skewed eccentricity.

Formed in Cleveland, the pair work both together and apart, splitting the band’s songwriting down the middle, working on their ideas at home before bringing them together under one defined vision. In early 2020 LPC released their second album, Everyday Ordinary, and it showcased a more refined version of the band than what had come before, the pair’s songwriting drifting into creative and hazy new textures across the album’s ten songs.

In early 2022, Lonely Pirate Committee release their first new work since those album sessions in the form of a brand new 7” single for Saddle Creek’s Document series. Formed of two new tracks, both recorded in late 2020, the release is led by “He Was in the Father”, a song which should be seen as a caricature of Middle-American suburbia; a white picket fence daydream through a shadowy lens. The track began simply as a sonic experiment but soon evolved into the full song we hear today – albeit one shaped by AI. “The track is partially written using AI music generation technology, in direct collaboration with the human composer,” the band explain.

Following the release of their latest single ‘Animal’ Brighton 4-piece Will & The People have announced details of their new album and subsequent tour this November/ December; following recent sold out shows in London and Brighton, as well as festival plays at the likes of Boardmasters and Green Man, where they headlined the Chai Wallahs stage on closing day.

Recorded at The Libertines’ The Albion Rooms over the course of a week, the band say of the album:
‘It represents a journey of the soul; from the darkness and depression of a lost and seemingly hopeless position - to a realisation and acknowledgment of needing to change, needing to empower oneself and then finally to a more joyous, un-shakeable happiness towards all aspects of life. Life is beautiful and can be lived with joy and grace. Through staying true to your passions and beliefs and finding, new chapters, happiness is there. The album, “Past the point of no return”, is the meeting of the past and present on our journey into the future. It's a four-way diary entry for life as we currently know it.’

You can tell from the way they play, talk and live that Will and The People aren’t following a formula or trying to follow the pack. They play music because it makes them feel good, feel free and feel whole.

Spoon’s tenth album, ‘Lucifer On The Sofa’, is the
band’s purest rock ’n’ roll record to date. Texasmade, it is the first set of songs that the quintet has
put to tape in its hometown of Austin in more than
a decade.
 Written and recorded over the last two years - both
in and out of lockdown - these songs mark a shift
toward something louder, wilder and more fullcolour.
 From the detuned guitars anchoring ‘The Hardest
Cut’ to the urgency of ‘Wild’, to the band’s blownout cover of the Smog classic ‘Held’, ‘Lucifer On
The Sofa’ bottles the physical thrill of a band
tearing up a packed room.
 ‘Lucifer On The Sofa’ is an album of intensity and
intimacy, where the music’s harshest edges feel as
vivid as the directions quietly murmured into the
mic on the first-take. According to frontman Britt
Daniel, “It’s the sound of classic rock as written by
a guy who never did get Eric Clapton.”

Midlake are a relatively small indie band, so the
level of ambition they display on ‘The Trials of Van
Occupanther’ is to be commended. From the
opening track, ‘Roscoe’, with its laconic lyrics and
slowly building chorus, they manage to recreate
perfectly the sound of 1980s Fleetwood Mac, a band
not known for thinking small.
 And though the rest of the album doesn’t quite reach
the heady heights of this opener, it’s not for a lack of
trying (particularly on ‘Head Home’). The remainder
of ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’ is considerably
more downbeat, with distant flutes complementing
the vocal harmonies of songs like ‘Bandits’ and
‘Branches’.
 Where Midlake particularly excel, though, is when,
like Grandaddy before them, they draw their
inspiration from the classic rock that they seem to
love so much, adapting and modernising it. So in
addition to the anthemic ‘Roscoe’, they evoke the
Gram Parsons-era Byrds or even The Band on ‘Van
Occupanther’ and the road-ready ‘It Covers the
Hillsides’.
 ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’ is an album that's
steeped in musical history yet possessing an identity
all its own.
 Released on 180g gold vinyl to celebrate a new
Midlake album for 2022 and also the 15th
anniversary of ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’ last
year.
 Digital download code included.

Garage rock supergroup The Surfing Magazines have announced Badgers of Wymeswold.

Consisting of one half of Slow Club and two thirds of The Wave Pictures, The Surfing Magazines’ primary influences are Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground and all the great surf guitar music of the 1960s. They burst onto the scene with their eponymous debut album in 2017, a lauded LP described by Record Collector Mag as “a vintage-yet-modern rock’n’roll classic”.

Mixing the noir surf textures of 1960s garage rock along with west coast sun beaten harmony pop, the 17-track Badgers of Wymeswold follows the acclaimed debut and is to be released July this year. The London based foursome recorded the album at Ranscomb Studio in Rochester in February last year before the start of the first UK lockdown.

Pushing their sound forward, the band utilise their garage rock ethic and have both Drummer Dominic Brider and Rhythm guitar player Charles Watso lead on vocals across multiple tracks. The album sees a return of free form saxophone parts, eerie violins and piano all appear, notably on tracks ‘Nostaw Boogie’ and ‘I’m Going Out Tonight To Play Some Pool’. The title track is drawn from David Tattersall’s nightmare vision about his home town's population of self-governing people, the album artwork was also made by Tattersall and depicts a collage of his referenced dreams. The extensive LP showcases their characteristic sound at their brightest, from softer ballads such as ‘Poppies’ and ‘Silver Breasts’, surf guitar rock anthem ‘Locomotive Cheer’, and to the six bar blues ‘Pink Ice Cream’.

Guitarist and producer HANS DEVILLE cut his rock’n’roll teeth with highly respected ska-punks KING PRAWN. It’s not an uncommon story, and during the pandemic this isn’t the only project born from a musician’s desire to keep creating.

Setting up a studio in his Stained-Glass workshop, a hybrid album of mariachi, sea shanty and twangy western began to develop. Live brass was recorded by his ska punk buddies, even his mum lending an accordion playing hand on first single Porbandar.

In addition to the KING PRAWN brass boys, Richard Glover bass player of the mighty DUB WAR, makes a special appearance on the Latino flavoured “Diva”.

On hearing the works in progress, old time friend Karl “Lost” Horton introduced Hans to “dark country” singer ANDREW J DAVIES. The pair immediately hit it off with Andrew laying down the vocals that very evening, taking influence from his Welsh roots by incorporating four level harmonies, much favoured by male voice choirs, on Porbandar the sea shanty evoking first single. The collaboration continued with half the album featuring the Hastings based vocalist.

It did not stop there. Eager to take the album “on the road”, a band of Hastings based musicians were assembled. The first show in London at Paper Dress Vintage was a sell out. Videos from the night were circulated with festival offers already coming in.

'Remember the Silver' is the debut studio album by New York by-way-of Pennsylvania musician Emily Yacina. Written over the span of two years and recorded / co-producer with Eric Littmann (Julie Byrne, GABI, Yohuna) 'Remember the Silver' represents a fundamental shift in Yacina's approach and method to bringing her songs into the world. Across it's 12 songs 'Silver' weaves an intimate and prismatic picture of the spark of new love, the way grief clings to the spirit and the small moments where magical things still feel possible. Gone is the lo-fi home-recorded feel that long-typified Yacina's previous work, confidently making way for a welcomed clarity that allows every corner of her first-rate songwriting to shine through. The title 'Remember the Silver' is lifted from a book by Dana Redfield about alien abduction where the subject uses the line as a private mantra to remind herself of how her experiences are real, despite the disbelievers around her. Similarly the songs on 'Silver' exist as reminders of experiences throughout a life cloaked in the kind of emotional subjectivity that, when looking back, can feel almost unreal in their beauty or loneliness. They're monuments to the complexity and the realness of love, and the beauty or isolation that can be amplified. Emily Yacina has toured and performed w/ Frankie Cosmos, Alex G, Girlpool, & Soccer Mommy.

Composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and co-founder of Black
Rebel Motorcycle Club, Robert Levon Been, announces his forthcoming
album, ‘Original Songs From The Card Counter’.

Levon Been composed several original songs as well as a majority of the
score for writer and director Paul Schrader’s new film, ‘The Card
Counter’, starring Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, Willem
Dafoe and executive produced by Martin Scorsese.

“Ironically this entire project began by working the last scene of the film
first,” says Levon Been. “Paul had reached out asking if I would write an
original song for a very intimate final scene he had been struggling with.
As tempting as the concept was, I must admit that kind of composing is
also my biggest fear - to write directly to picture with such precision that
it takes over the narrative in a substantial way, which I knew Paul never
shies away from. It also turned me into a nervous wreck because I know
just how easy it is to quickly ruin a movie with merely a single lyric at the
wrong time. Thankfully for ‘Mercy Of Man’, I had S.G. Goodman there in
NY singing with me to help experiment with how to create a fairly
unconventional duet of sorts that is intended to evoke the emotions of
the two characters in that final scene.”

‘The Card Counter’ marks the fifth collaboration between Schrader and
Scorsese, who previously worked together on ‘Taxi Driver’, ‘Raging Bull’,
‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ and ‘Bringing Out the Dead’.

Robert Levon Been is a producer, composer, singer songwriter and
founding member of the band, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, with whom
he has released eight albums and toured the world with since 2001. With
a dedicated following across Europe, the US, Australia and Asia, their
record ‘Howl’ has ranked many top album lists.

In 2013, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were featured in Dave Grohl’s
Grammy-winning documentary, ‘Sound City’. 2021 marks the 20th
anniversary of the release of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s self-titled
first album.

Robert is currently producing and writing for multiple projects, dividing
his time between Los Angeles and Vienna.

Gatefold LP, with initial copies featuring spot gloss on sleeve. (Once this
format has sold out, a standard gatefold sleeve edition - EPZTC001LPR
- will be made available.)

She Drew The Gun are today announcing their return with new album Behave Myself. The follow-up to the critically acclaimed Revolution Of Mind, which was named among BBC 6 Music’s Albums Of The Year, is produced by Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, The Fall, The Kills, Working Men’s Club). The first music from the record is confirmed to arrive next month.

Under the moniker She Drew The Gun, songwriter Louisa Roach began by playing solo gigs around Liverpool, she quickly caught the attention of The Coral’s James Skelly who she began working with at Skeleton Key Records, recruiting band members along the way. At first glance Roach’s fuzzy psych-pop may suggest that the Wirral born songwriter is another ‘Cosmic Scouser’ but then you’re drawn into the spirit of rebellion, songs that rally against injustice and food banks and celebrate outsiderdom.

She Drew The Gun are today announcing their return with new album Behave Myself. The follow-up to the critically acclaimed Revolution Of Mind, which was named among BBC 6 Music’s Albums Of The Year, is produced by Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys, The Fall, The Kills, Working Men’s Club). The first music from the record is confirmed to arrive next month.

Under the moniker She Drew The Gun, songwriter Louisa Roach began by playing solo gigs around Liverpool, she quickly caught the attention of The Coral’s James Skelly who she began working with at Skeleton Key Records, recruiting band members along the way. At first glance Roach’s fuzzy psych-pop may suggest that the Wirral born songwriter is another ‘Cosmic Scouser’ but then you’re drawn into the spirit of rebellion, songs that rally against injustice and food banks and celebrate outsiderdom.

As a young kid I always wanted to be a musician especially with my brothers.
My Dad, Major Williams Sr started it all with my Brother Lil Major Williams and Garland Williams.
They would travel and play music at venues all over Texas and surroundings States.

I myself stared playing the snare drum in Junior High school and eventually started playing with the Majortones Band which was my dad and brothers group.

I remember the first time I ever sat behind a set of drums it was like a dream come true.
We were playing at this club in Houston, called the Green Parrot.
Garland which was the drummer at the time, I think he got sick or something happened, that's when my dad came to me and said this your time Ray.

I was so scared , keep in my I was only 11years old, anyway I played that night if it had not been for the Bass player (Fox was his name) telling me how to work the foot pedal and high hats snare we wouldn't have made he just kept telling me to stay on the one, at that time I was wondering what was the one Lol.

As time went by I started really getting the hang the thing call music.

Little Major was a big James Brown fan, so we played a lot of Brown's music and if I tell you we were tight and right.

Major wrote Girl Don't Leave in 1978 and I can't remember the real reason for the title of song but it did really good lot's of air play.

As time went on Lil Major, Garland and my Dad passed away.

That's when I started managing The Majortones Band and to this Day it's still going strong.

I re-wrote Girl Don't Leave Me and released it a few years ago which was the best thing I could have ever done.

I feel like it's my time in the music industry, I've been playing for over forty years and I'm still in love with it and still having lots of fun.

Retro-futurist cinematic synth-fest from Supersilent keyboardist and composer. Just as radio drama is said to provide the best pictures, so some music can make for a perfect film soundtrack without the need for a film to exist at all. ’The Haze of Sleeplessness’ is a case in point: as the album starts to play, the listener’s imagination kicks in and does the rest, supplying the necessary plot, character and setting until a full-scale narrative unspools behind one’s eyes. A suite of seven movements whose common musical material is continuously recycled into new shapes and sounds, while recurring leitmotifs create a connecting thread of continuity, ’The Haze of Sleeplessness’ operates on several levels simultaneously. Most obviously, perhaps, it’s an unapologetic synth-fest; a love poem to old-school electronica and analogue sound whose squelches, bleeps and blurts can’t help but recall the heroic era of Wendy Carlos, Vangelis and Tangerine Dream. It’s also a remarkably original and successful attempt at using by now antique instruments to form a true orchestral palette, building a symphony of sound through combining monophonic sources and their new digital variants into a densely populated audio landscape that is captured with astonishing sonic fidelity. The super-saturated surface of the music fairly crackles with raw electricity, as if the over-amped distortion was about to short-circuit itself, with a wobbly jack plug connection flickering dangerously before finally cutting out. That many of these sounds and their treatment can’t help but suggest the retro-futurist setting of a dystopian sci-fi thriller might make the cinematic analogy inevitable, but it doesn’t lessen the music’s power or cheapen its effect.

"Hall Of The Mountain King" marks the beginning of the successful
relationship with producer Paul O'Neill.

Considered a turning point in the band's musical identity, the album shows the beginning of their progressive tendencies as they explore new forms of expression in their music, distinguishing between the old and new Savatage.
Mastered for vinyl and reissued with the original cover design, enhanced artwork and extensive liner notes by Clay Marshall, the album will become available as a 180g Black Vinyl Gatefold Edition and as a Strictly Limited Heavyweight Collector's LP Edition on Golden Vinyl which includes an exclusive 7" Vinyl Single featuring the song "This Is Where You Should Be" on Side A and a 1987 live version of "Hall Of The Mountain King" on Side B.

"Hall Of The Mountain King" marks the beginning of the successful
relationship with producer Paul O'Neill.

Considered a turning point in the band's musical identity, the album shows the beginning of their progressive tendencies as they explore new forms of expression in their music, distinguishing between the old and new Savatage.
Mastered for vinyl and reissued with the original cover design, enhanced artwork and extensive liner notes by Clay Marshall, the album will become available as a 180g Black Vinyl Gatefold Edition and as a Strictly Limited Heavyweight Collector's LP Edition on Golden Vinyl which includes an exclusive 7" Vinyl Single featuring the song "This Is Where You Should Be" on Side A and a 1987 live version of "Hall Of The Mountain King" on Side B.

São Paulo-based carnival collective and brass band combine retro horns with cumbia, baile funk, jazz, Michael Jackson & more

A Espetacular Charanga do França started as a political act, part of a recent movement which has seen the people of São Paulo reclaim their streets, turning their city into a revelation of Brazilian carnival. The group takes equal inspiration from the powerful charanga horn and percussion bands that stir the crowds at Brazilian football matches, and the expertly-arranged sounds of 60s

samba, finding that sweet spot between musicianship and music that makes you lose your shit. And they do it with humour, clear as day in their covers of Michael Jackson and pagode pop hits, and the baile funk and Balkan rhythms that sneak their way in to the tunes.

Since forming in 2013 the group have become an iconic staple of São Paulo’s revived carnival, generating crowds 15,000 strong. Though COVID-19 put a stop to them hitting the streets this year, in 2020 they made their way to carnival with over 60 brass players and 30 percussionists, declaring their bloco an anti-fascist zone, their reply to a political climate in Brazil that is suffocating human rights, culture and any hope for equality.

“I like to think that Charanga is an oasis in the middle of all the shit that we live, where you don't have to be worried about who you are, what are your preferences, whether you can be comfortable. If you want to parade with us wearing a tea towel you can, you won't be harassed. And it's also about music, it's about listening to music. We do this thing the whole year, we rehearse all year, we do too much so that people can just get crazy and not care about the music.” Thiago França

The group is the brainchild of saxophonist Thiago França, best known as a founding member of Afro-punk explorers Metá-Metá, and one of São Paulo’s most in-demand horn men, with credits on influential albums by Criolo, Elza Soares, Céu and Lucas Santtana. A

The Seattle Times declared “On The Quarner” as one of the best albums of 2020, saying that “Stas doesn’t so much rap over beats as aerate her misty tracks with the feeling of a dream you’re certain is real.” The title is a nod to "On The Corner," the 1972 jazz classic from trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Miles Davis. Stas chops up the source material, reimagining and recontextualizing it as a single 16-minute musical suite for these pandemic days indoors. Seattle radio station KEXP calls this record a “masterwork that warrants uninterrupted listens”, while describing the former THEESatisfaction member as "a sculpture artist, building statues out of every musical element possible, stacking rhyming sounds and pitch-shifted harmonies, unpacking complex thematic concepts, and rapping circles around even the best of her peers just for the hell of it.” Northwest underground hip-hop label Crane City Music is thrilled to release a deluxe vinyl edition of “On The Quarner” on red wax with an extra 22 minutes of exclusive instrumentals and bonus tracks. This deluxe edition also includes a full-color lyrics booklet and liner notes by Larry Mizell Jr. Only 500 individually numbered copies have been pressed.

In over thirty years of regularly meeting with reggae artists and musicians in the UK and Kingston, I never encountered anything like the feeling of being around the Xterminator camp during the nineties. It wasn’t just the depth of talent that owner Philip “Fatis” Burrell could call upon or even the quality of his productions, but the sense of purpose he instilled in people. At times, it felt as if he and his group of largely Rasta artists had aligned themselves with a higher power - not just in their reasoning sessions, but when someone stepped to the mic and opened their heart, as well as their mouth. If you recorded for Fatis, you went into the studio empty-handed - no lyrics - and put your trust in the Almighty. That was the rule and the artists who passed through Xterminator had to really feel what they were singing or deejaying about.

This split LP offers two short albums on one disc, providing two entry points into Seattle's flourishing underground hip-hop and electronic music scenes. On one side is “S’WOMEN,” the highly-anticipated solo debut from THEESatisfaction’s Stas Thee Boss. “Love Memo,” on the flip is a runaway success from EDM wunderkind Chong The Nomad. Both women are producers, singers, beatmakers, and queer artists of color. Crane City Music is proud to press up both projects on limited-edition, deluxe numbered vinyl. Every single record is a different color with spatter accents. Chicago’s Dusty Groove Records praises this split vinyl, citing its “hypnotic, abstract hip-hop vibe, moody, insistent beatcraft, and vocal samples... It’s solid all the way.” Pitchfork adds that "this is a sharp solo debut doused in heartbreak and identity." The Needle Drop's Anthony Fantano is also a fan, saying "Chong The Nomad is fucking awesome. There's not a thing about this I don't like. This music literally made my day."

Wes Andersons neuester Film ”The French Dispatch” erweckt eine Sammlung von Geschichten aus der
letzten Ausgabe einer amerikanischen Zeitschrift zum Leben, die in einer fiktiven französischen Stadt des
20. Jahrhunderts erschien.
In den Hauptrollen spielen Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray
und Owen Wilson. Der Film feierte im Juli bei den Filmfestspielen von Cannes 2021 in Frankreich Premiere
und wird am 21./22. Oktober weltweit in die Kinos kommen.
Der ”The French Dispatch” OST wird zeitgleich mit dem Kinostart des Films veröffentlicht. Auf dem
eklektischen Soundtrack sind Jarvis Cocker, Grace Jones, Ennio Morricone, Charles Aznavour und viele
andere zu hören.
ab 11.02.2022 auch als 2LP erhältlich

Is there a better pairing of kindred spirits than a split seven-inch single featuring Le Butcherettes and Death Valley Girls? We're hard pressed to think of one. Sure, the interaction is fleeting, but damn is it satisfying. We've got Le Butcherettes on side A taking on one of Death Valley Girls' most cosmic numbers, the kaleidoscopic centerpiece off Under the Spell of Joy album, "The Universe." Le Butcherettes' fearless and charismatic mastermind Teri Gender Bender takes the tune into even trippier territories, replicating the original song's sonic tapestry of synth, sax, and guitars with layer upon layer of vocals. Only the sparse accompaniment of acoustic guitar and modest percussion keeps the song from being fully a capella. It's a perfect interpretation of Death Valley Girls' communal and choral aims. On side B, Death Valley Girls offer up a new tune - the deliciously ecstatic "When I'm Free." Like every great Death Valley Girls song, it's a celebration of life bolstered by fiery rock n' roll riffage, spiritual organ, dizzying sax, and Bonnie Bloomgarden's defiant and triumphant vocals. Suicide Squeeze Records is proud to offer up this meeting of mystical minds on vinyl and digital platforms on February 11, 2022.

The Flower-Corsano Duo, the world’s best and only drums / Japan banjo duo return to VHF for their first album since 2009’s monumental The Four Aims. Mick Flower (Vibracathedral Orchestra) and Chris Corsano (frequently seen with Bill Orcutt, Joe McPhee, and other luminaries) work an area that’s not really jazz, not really anything—a stream of endlessly mutating free sound, a unique mind-merge between Corsano’s nimble drums and percussion and Flower’s amplified Japan banjo (also known as a Shahi Baaja, a type of electric Indian zither with both fretted / keyed and drone strings).

Flower cuts a highly original line, playing neither “leads” nor making drone-music. Less amplified here than on the more “heavy” The Four Aims, the strings ring out with distinct clarity in short snippets of melody and a canvas of pleasing electric sound. Corsano’s bag is to charm out a flow of thoughtful percussion engagement, rolling around on his kit, continually varying his attack and approach in conversational free-jazz style. The Halcyon is a precious addition to a tiny discography, a fortunate event even in today’s world of small press overabundance. Thanks guys!

Latest Levellers album to be pressed as a picture disc for your collection -

Peace: a word that’s both direct and loaded with meaning. On the surface, it suggests tranquility, evenness, a state of bliss already achieved. But the word that gives the Levellers’ 11th studio album its title is open to a multitude of interpretations, too. It could be a reference to a disappearing value. It could be a sneering statement of irony. It could be a cry for calm in a crazed world. It could mean whatever you want it to mean.

Peace is the most relevant album of 2020. Its 11 electrifying songs are a charged reaction to a world that seems to be teetering on the edge of madness and self-destruction. The environment is buckling under the weight of humanity’s disregard, right-wing demagogues are spreading hatred and fear across supposedly civilised nations, society and culture is trapped in a death spiral that’s playing out in real time across social media

“The record was written from a place of wanting to
escape the walls of my own apartment, I wrote it
imagining freedom and dancing and people being
able to hold each other again. I spent so much
time on zoom day and night just writing words and
melodies and before I knew it I’d written an albums
worth of material. I felt a wild and animalistic
feeling of needing and wanting to socialise again
come out whilst writing and the feelings just didn’t
stop. I felt like being in my apartment and being so
isolated made me really dig deep into my mind and
my imagination just ran wild. Most of the music is a
celebration but some of the music comes from a
painful place, of loss and heartbreak. I felt trapped
and almost like my insides were dancing but I
couldn’t express it, but in writing it allowed me to
feel free again. This record feels like a new start
and the ability to come back to life after such a
strange time of us all being alone.” - Foxes

Auf dieser LP mit zwei Oden, die Purcell zu Ehren von
Königin Maria komponiert hat, betören die natürlichen
rhythmischen und sanft expressiven Qualitäten der Kunst
Gardiners den Hörer, während er in den Funeral
Sentences eine geradezu umwerfende Ausgewogenheit
und Leichtigkeit erreicht. Auch die Polyphonie des
Monteverdi Choir, die bereits in den 1970er Jahren als
eine der besten galt, bewahrt eine heitere, leuchtende
Klarheit.
"Der Gesang des Monteverdi-Chores ist überragend gut.
Eine prächtige Aufnahme." Gramophone

An album that never made it to stores. Basically the first two Silver Apples albums minus a track, but replaced by, 'Anthem', the legendary track by Jimi Hendrix that features Simeon on bass oscillator. The story of this recording is on the back of the sleeve. Jimpress the Jimi Hendrix Magazine even confirmed and authenticated Simeon played bass oscillator on the track.

After some wicked EPs by Yosh, Etch and Tom Jarmey, here is some proper underground UK flavour courtesy of Burnski's Vivid imprint - a new sub label of Constant Sound. The latest one this week is by the enigmatic Tamoshi. On the A side, we have the snarling minimalist roller called 'The System' which is quite reminiscent of early DJ Krust. Over on the flip, hear a convincingly old school junglist stepper, the fittingly titled 'Darkside' that goes all the way back to '95. One for the heads.

21 Bridges ensures the classic Beastie Boys demo collection gets a proper reissue, following its former relegation to only CD and bootleg vinyl formats. 'The Def Jam Master Demos' hears our favourite rabble-rousers at their rawest, with every track from their landmark project 'Licensed To Ill' getting an exclusive, less polished look-in. Fight for your right to definitively own every Beastie Boys rarity, and grab this one while you can.

Milky Clear w/ Black Heavy Splatter

The Franklin Street Arterial were from Portland, Maine and are the type of band to appreciate since the beginning of A Side.
Late 70s and early 80s light fusion sound (but not smooth jazz!). Definitely more on the jazz side rather than rock, but with well crafted melodies and solid professional playing from all.
Sublime synthesizer, fine guitar, and fantastic sax gives an honest and touchable value to this record.
LIMITED EDITION COLOURED VINYL

The Madness, originally released in May 1988, is the only album recorded by Suggs, Chas Smash, Chrissy Boy and Lee Thompson of Madness. Calling themselves “The Madness”, the group explored a new direction without Mike Barson, Woody and Mark Bedford. The result was an album bathed in all the new technology the late 1980s had to offer, and features some of this incarnation of Madness’ most experimental work.

Lead vocals were shared between Suggs and Chas Smash, while all members of the group contributed music and lyrics. The album also features a host of other musicians including Steve Nieve (Elvis Costello & The Attractions) on keyboards and The Specials’ Jerry Dammers on piano.

Although short-lived, this version of Madness marked a significant detour from the original band’s trajectory and preceded one of the most extraordinary music comebacks ever witnessed, when the whole band reformed in 1992 for two sold-out “Madstock” shows in London’s Finsbury Park. The fans’ excitement led to a legendary mini-earthquake, and ‘Madstock’ would prove that no members of Madness ever truly leave the band.

This LP reissue is pressed on 180g black vinyl and features brand new liner notes by Chrissy Boy, Chas Smash and Lee Thompson.

Words have a force of their own: a life generated by their meaning and by the imaginary world they refer to; a power increased by the dynamic interplay with other words. Just put 'Moon' and 'Apollo' together, and you'll be almost inevitably transported to mankind's greatest adventure: the Moon landing and, before that, the space race between the US and USSR, the early missions, and the incredible technological challenges faced at the time by astronauts and engineers.

It is against this imaginative background that beat-maker and bass player Moonbrew and organist and keyboardist Paolo Apollo Negri conceived The LEM Tales project. Their collaboration, too, is the coming together of 'Moon' and 'Apollo', and of their two worlds: a sonic universe where hip hop meets funk, pop merges with jazz, old school interacts with new possibilities, and urban and space blend into something new.

The LEM Tales - Chapter One narrates the space race from the American point of view. This vinyl edition, which includes two exclusive tracks (*) not on the digital release, takes us on a journey from "Project Gemini" - NASA's second human spaceflight program - to "Tranquillity Base" (*) (the site on the Moon where Armstrong and Aldrin landed and walked in July 1969) , through tracks titled "Capsule Communicator" (the individual in the mission control center who maintained communication with the astronauts in space), "EMU" (Extravehicular Mobility Unit, better known as the spacesuit), "Saturn V" (a threestage, liquid-fuelled rocket used between 1967 and 1973), and "Mercury Seven" (*) (the group of seven astronauts chosen for the Mercury Program in 1959).

Inspired by iconic images that are part of our collective visual memory, Moonbrew and Apollo's first collaborative effort tries to provide a contemporary sonic representation of what the past means to us today – and, perhaps, will mean to future generations. It does so through a feast of vintage synthesizers, transistor and tonewheel organs, string machines, electric pianos, tube amplifiers, obscure analogue devices, electric bass, and modern samplers.

An old-school hip hop approach was used in the first stages of writing the album: individual drums hits from old, dusty records were first sampled and then physically played on real instruments to create patterns and build up the rhythm section. Moonbrew then laid down the electric bass grooves and Apollo layered his dreamy, evocative vintage keyboards on top. The result is a combination of different styles, sounds and genres that is fresh, original and contemporary while being clearly influenced by many musical legends of the past.

The LEM Tales - Chapter One is released by Four Flies in partnership with Record Kicks.

Originally released in 2008 on CD and in a very limited vinyl edition, "The Malady Of Elegance" by Goldmund aka Keith Kenniff finally gets its long-deserved vinyl re-release, featuring a new artwork and remastered audio by Taylor Deupree.

Taking cues from 'Corduroy Road' Keith Kenniff (aka Helios) again restricts himself to the piano in conjuring up his humble soundscapes and again we are pulled into a deep, meditative and filmic world as the notes glide to a slow, pensive meter. Keith's precedent release was the challenging 'Two Point Discrimination' EP, released on the Western Vinyl label as part of their portrait series, but where that record was a collection of haunting experiments in form and sound, 'The Malady of Elegance' sees us back into the warming, homespun territory of 'Corduroy Road'. That's not to say these compositions are upbeat, far from it in fact, but there are lines to be drawn to folk music, and while Keith no longer draws on the American Civil War as a primary influence there is still the sense that the ghosts of old America haunt the keys.

On top of these references we see Keith tripping somewhat fittingly into a flickering filmic world somewhat in line with his taste in European film. There is a delicate narrative on show throughout the record from the opening hopefulness of Image-Autumn-Womb through the melancholy of Now to the sensitive romance of the album's closer Evelyn. Listening to the record almost creates its own cinematic accompaniment in the minds eye, and this is simply a testament to Keith's incredible talents as a composer.

Fans of Erik Satie, Sylvain Chauveau and Hauschka need look no further, 'The Malady of Elegance' is a deeply personal meditation which you cannot help but get lost inside.

Multi-instrumentalist UMUT ÇAĞLAR (KONSTRUKT, KARKHANA), former BABA ZULA-drummer FAHRETTIN AYKUT and the Finnish saxophone player / shakuhachi specialist JONE TAKAMAKI join forces in a stunning improvised live set that blends Free Jazz with East-Asian ZEN-sounds.

The idea for "Myth Of The Drum. Urban Transformation" dates from an art exhibition in Istanbul 2017 where FAHRETTIN AYKUT exhibited an installation called "Urvban Transformation" that combined painting and music, dealing with the relation of humankind and earth which is symbolized through a tree put upside-down.. AYKUT, former drummer in the Turkish group BABA ZULA and these days a well-known architect in Turkey, asked his longtime friend UMUT CAGLAR, multi-instrumentalist in KONSTRUKT and KARKHANA, to join for an actual performance … CAGLAR on his side was in touch with JONE TAKAMAKI who has been a central figure of the Finnish Free Jazz / Avantgarde scene since the 1970s. His album "Universal Mind" (1982) is a sought-after collector's item of European Spiritual Jazz, he was a member of the group ROOMMUSHKLAHN (with RAOUL BJÖRKENHEIM a.o.) and in 1991 he joined the ECM signed Finnish jazz/rock/improv collective KRAKATAU, founded and run by RAOUL BJÖRKENHEIM, and last but not least TAKAMAKI received the first ever Pekka Pöyry Award. Besides being deeply rooted in jazz, he is also a specialist in Japanese shakuhachi and hocchiku flute playing which makes this adhoc-trio so extraordinary: repetitive drumming, shamanistic throat sounds and plenty of string and reed instruments, a constant ebb and flow of sounds and energy … neither pure jazz nor world music but a blend of both, forming a fascinating third! Meditative in its continuously pulsating rhythm, cathartic in the moments of sonic outbursts …

A few months after the Istanbul art fair performance, the trio (augmented to a quartet by ALAN WILKINSON) played 2 showsatLondon's Cafe OTO and gossip has it saying that THURSTON MOORE who attended the show confessed afterwards that he was very touched emotionally.

Credits:

All Music by Fahrettin Aykut/Umut Çağlar/Jone Takamäki.

A Konstrukt Joint.

Jone Takamäki: tenor saxophone, ney, shakuhachi, clarinet.

Umut Çağlar: guimbri, kalimba, gralla, zurna, mey, flutes.

Fahrettin Aykut: electronic percussion; drums, cymbals.

Recorded live at BantMag. Havuz/Bina in Istanbul (October 3rd, 2017) through a Tascam portable recorder.

Produced by Umut Çağlar.

Mastered & cut by Anne Traegert at D&M, Berlin

Brief Encounter, THE soul band from North Wilkesboro, N.C., formed the 1970's and recorded through the the 90s with various labels as well as self releasing. We have been working with band members Montie & Gary Bailey (who has actually visited me in Scotland) to bring you a few releases over the last few years, culminating in this final release alongside their rarest and unknown single when they were known as Sounds of Soul. Never a step wrong, not a bad track to be seen, one of America's finest 70s soul bands.

Shawn Lee goes on a soul trip. Together with Hamburg/Germany based The Angels Of Libra he recorded two modern soul steppers for this special 7inch single release. "Bless My Soul" is truly blessed by it's magic hookline, while "Souvenir" tells a smooth soul story.

The Angels Of Libra consists of the wrecking crew in Hamburg's soul musician scene. They set out to work and recor with a variety of talented singers and artists, while producer Dennis Rux (Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Studios) aims to create a vintage, but modern sound.

Das Debütalbum von Kool and the Gang aus dem Jahr 1970 erzielte mit "The Gangs Back Again" einige Hits, vor allem aber läutete es die Ankunft dessen ein, was ein Moloch in der R&B-Szene werden sollte. Diese rein instrumentale Platte ist von den kommerziellen Erfolgen von "Jungle Boogie" und "Celebration" um Jahre und auch stilistisch um einige Lichtjahre entfernt.

Aber diese einzigartige Mischung aus Jazz, Funk und R&B, unterbrochen von diesen gewaltigen Bläser-Arrangements (und einigen großartigen Schlagzeugbreaks), die Kool and the Gang in ihrer besten Form charakterisiert, ist hier in voller Stärke zu hören. Aus diesem Grund werden die Originalexemplare dieser Platte für eine "Kool"-Summe ausgegeben.

21 months have passed since Hannes and his collaborator, friend and producer Marcus White (Anna of the North, Seinabo Sey) released the debut EP “Summer 3000”. A debut that brought him straight to festival Way Out West’s main stage supporting Seinabo Sey, a virus-cancelled Europe tour and unanimous praise from critics like German COLORS. Trailing the likes of Kevin Abstract, King Krule, Dijon, Choker & Omar Apollo - Hannes truly creates something brand new combining his mesmerizing fragile voice, insane lyrics, nylon-string guitar, drum-machines & odd samples. The first single from forthcoming EP “When the city sleeps” is a song about waking up from a slumber was released May 21st and is called "Snooze".

Nestled somewhere between the soul
jazz, spiritual jazz, fusion, and post-bop
subgenres, 1974’s Cosmic Funk headed, as
the title indicates, in a funkier direction,
with Lonnie Liston Smith’s brother Donald
contributing smooth vocal stylings to John
Coltrane’s “Naima” among other tunes. A
transitional work but a fascinating one, with
surehanded production once again from
Bob Thiele. Features the original gatefold album art…another
“post-fusion” masterwork from the Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes!